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Gail
Gail is a goldfish owned by C.J. Cregg. She was a gift from Danny Concannon.The Short List Story In 1999, Danny, who had a crush on C.J., asked White House Deputy Chief of Staff Josh Lyman for personal information about C.J.'s likes and dislikes. Lyman expressed that C.J. was "crazy about Goldfish," referring to Goldfish-brand crackers. Danny thought he meant domesticated pet goldfish, and promptly bought her one. Amused by Danny's gesture, C.J. kept the goldfish, which Danny had named "Gail." In 2000, C.J. clumsily attempted to carry Gail out of her office while attempting to evade Danny. In 2006, C.J. nearly caused Gail to fall out of her bowl when a phone call she was using knocked Gail's fishbowl to the floor. She was luckily able to pick up the bowl after only a limited amount of water spilled out.Internal Displacement On January 20, 2007, C.J. left Gail in her office when she left the White House for the last time.Tomorrow : Supposedly, Gail would've been picked up later or shipped to C.J. It's possible, however, that C.J. left Gail in the care of the next White House Chief of Staff, Josh Lyman. Decorations C.J. treated Gail well and often placed small objects and decorations in her fishbowl. : This was actually a production in-joke, often connected to the plot of the episode it appeared in. These decorations include: * miniature Christmas tree''In Excelsis Deo'' * green Army soldiers''Lord John Marbury'' * replica podium and US flags''He Shall, from Time to Time...'' * toy panda bears''Six Meetings Before Lunch'' * Easter eggs''Let Bartlet Be Bartlet'' * toy telephone''Lies, Damn Lies and Statistics'' * miniature space shuttle''What Kind of Day Has It Been? * small podium and microphone''The Midterms'' * toy elephant''In This White House'' * miniature bed''And It's Surely to Their Credit'' * toy missile''The Drop-In'' * Peace Doves "NSF Thurmont" * fake statuette of BastThe Stackhouse Filibuster * piece of piping''Bad Moon Rising'' * chair and microphone''The Fall's Gonna Kill You'' * miniature slide projector screen''On the Day Before'' * toy submarine''Gone Quiet'' * female symbol pendants''Enemies Foreign and Domestic'' * toy doll in a dress''The Black Vera Wang''We Killed Yamamoto * road sign to Washington, DC20 Hours in America (Part II) * snowglobe''Holy Night'' * toy cows''Guns Not Butter'' * miniature White House''Evidence of Things Not Seen'' * small calendar''A Constituency of One'' * miniature flag-draped coffin''The Stormy Present * toy cabbage''Slow News Day'' * "no fishing" sign''No Exit'' * fake icicles''Mr. Frost'' * clock * "For Sale" sign''The Last Hurrah'' * "That's All Folks" sign Background information Although seen in many episodes, Gail was only referred to directly in five (The Short List; He Shall, from Time to Time...; Guns Not Butter; Liftoff & Internal Displacement) It's a common myth that goldfish have short and limited lifespans, but in fact many can live up to ten years in good conditions. It's possible that Gail (who we saw for over seven years) was one of them. (''Props Master Blanche Sindelar said there were three Gail's throughout the series: The West Wing Weekly Podcast - 3.12) '' Links * A page listing all of the props in Gail's goldfish bowl Notes and references Category:Characters